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In puzzling over whether it's better to be feared or loved as a leader, Machiavelli famously said that, because it's nigh impossible to do both, leaders should opt for fear. Research from Harvard Business School's Amy Cuddy and consultants Matthew Kohut and John Neffinger refutes that theory, arguing that leaders would do much better to begin with "love"--that is, to establish trust through warmth and understanding. Most leaders today approach their jobs by emphasizing competence, strength, and credentials. But without first building a foundation of trust, they run the risk of eliciting fear, resentment, or envy. Beginning with warmth allows trust to develop, facilitating both the exchange and the acceptance of ideas--people really hear your message and become open to it. Cultivating warmth and trust also boosts the quantity and quality of novel ideas that are produced. The best way to gain influence is to combine warmth and strength--as difficult as Machiavelli says that may be to do. In this article, the authors look at research from behavioral economics, social psychology, and other disciplines and offer practical tactics for leaders hoping to project a healthy amount of both qualities.

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Most managers know better than to blurt out, "This is no job for a woman." Yet many are surprisingly open about their bias against mothers and other caregivers. This type of discrimination takes the form of comments like "Don't you feel bad leaving your kids at home?"; assumptions about mothers' lack of commitment to work or inability to handle a tougher load; and blatant differences in salary and promotional opportunities. Such behavior can get your company into legal trouble, say the authors, a distinguished professor at the University of California's Hastings College of Law and an associate professor at Harvard Business School. In the United States, the number of family-responsibilities lawsuits jumped almost 400% from 1998 to 2008. In federal court, the success rate of plaintiffs in these cases is high; roughly two-thirds of them prevail--about twice as many as prevail in all employment discrimination cases. And it isn't just mothers who are taking firms to court: Men and people caring for elderly parents are also filing suits and winning them. Executives need to be aware of the costs, which include settlements that can run into the millions, negative publicity, and the loss of valued contributors. To avoid them, they should educate themselves--and their employees--about the law, work to eliminate any stigma associated with flextime in the office, and set clear policies about family-responsibilities discrimination.

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The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex Laskey, who were inspired by Robert Cialdini's behavioral science research showing that people's normative beliefs - and messaging tailored to those beliefs - had a powerful and measurable impact on their energy-conserving behaviors. Yates and Laskey redesigned the home energy bill to include normative messaging, including feedback on how consumers' energy usage compares to their neighbors' usage. Through early trials of the program, the electrical utilities began seeing 1.5% to 3.5% savings in energy usage, almost immediately. After the rapid success of OPOWER's first three years, Yates and Laskey wondered whether their approach would produce sustainable results: what strategy should they pursue to ensure that consumers continue to read and respond to the normative messaging in the "Energy Bill 2.0"?

learning objective:

Use with OPOWER: Increasing Energy Efficiency through Normative Influence (A)

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The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex Laskey, who were inspired by Robert Cialdini's behavioral science research showing that people's normative beliefs - and messaging tailored to those beliefs - had a powerful and measurable impact on their energy-conserving behaviors. Yates and Laskey redesigned the home energy bill to include normative messaging, including feedback on how consumers' energy usage compares to their neighbors' usage. Through early trials of the program, the electrical utilities began seeing 1.5% to 3.5% savings in energy usage, almost immediately. After the rapid success of OPOWER's first three years, Yates and Laskey wondered whether their approach would produce sustainable results: what strategy should they pursue to ensure that consumers continue to read and respond to the normative messaging in the "Energy Bill 2.0"?

learning objective:

To illustrate effective implementation of Cialdini's principles of social influence, in the context of an entrepreneurial venture in the energy sector. In particular, the case provides the basis for a comparison of the effectiveness of normative influence (influence via communication of social norms) vs. informational influence (influence via the presentation of facts or positions).

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This exercise is based on the popular group game "Mafia" and is designed to give students a broad introduction to multiple theories of influence and to challenge their instincts about which techniques are the most powerful and how they may be employed. In this version, two section-mates have been linked to the vandalizing of school property. Students are secretly assigned to different roles (e.g., Moderator, Vandals, Leadership and Values Representative, and Innocent Section Members), and the object of the game is for the players to debate the identities of the Vandals and vote to eliminate suspects.

learning objective:

When used as an in-class exercise, early in a course, the case is designed to expose students' lay theories about which psychological strategies will be effective in influencing others. In particular, the exercise provides an opportunity to discuss: non-verbal signals, lie detection, in-group/out-group dynamics, building trust, informational influence, use of authority, and social proof.

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In the 2006 election cycle, Dan Silver was challenging a popular 26-year incumbent for the U.S. congressional seat in Florida's 19th Congressional District. To win the election, Silver needed to find a way to relate to his voters on a personal level. Silver's campaign manager advised him to work with consulting firm KNP Communications. Over the course of a few sessions, Silver worked with the KNP team to learn techniques that would help him project warmth and authenticity. On election night, Silver wondered if KNP's training had allowed him to successfully connect with his voters, and more importantly, if this personal connection mattered more to voters than his competence and skills. Some information in this case has been disguised.

learning objective:

This case explores the implementation and effectiveness of verbal and non-verbal behavioral strategies in the context of a Congressional campaign.

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Our annual survey of ideas and trends that will make an impact on business: Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Tyagi believe consumer credit should be made as safe as any other product. Paul Collier and Jean-Louis Warnholz reveal an increasingly investment-friendly climate in sub-Saharan Africa. Amy J.C. Cuddy asserts that warmth and competence are not mutually exclusive. John Sviokla predicts a surge of peer-to-peer lending in the wake of the financial crisis. Noah J. Goldstein explains the impact of social pressure on customers' behavior. Raymond Fisman urges the creation of a global forensic economics lab modeled on Interpol. Paul Saffo warns of a brain drain out of the U.S. Gurdeep Singh Pall and Rita Gunther McGrath contemplate the ramifications of immortalizing business meetings in searchable, high-quality digital video. Janine M. Benyus and Gunter A.M. Pauli illustrate the advantages of innovation copied from nature. Michael I. Norton observes that an investment of effort can lead to unduly glorifying its results. Peter Schwartz dispels the illusion that global temperatures are actually falling. Nicholas A. Christakis shows that personal influence wanes beyond three degrees of separation. Marcelo Suarez-Orozco sees the migrant millions as untapped brand emissaries to their relatives back home. Ian Bremmer and Juan Pujadas chart the growing influence of state capitalism in four industry sectors. Steve Jurvetson shares a fun way to stimulate the growth of new brain cells. Lew McCreary spotlights the interior designs of two adventurous architects who aim to counteract the degenerative effects of physical comfort. Tom Ilube explains the semantic web - a quiet revolution in technology that will radically change the internet. Alex Pentland weighs the benefits of combining two distinct kinds of social networking. Thomas H. Davenport and Bala Iyer look at the offshore outsourcing of decision making. R. Stanley Williams envisions a central nervous system for the earth.

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